PARISH, N.Y. – WARNING: Some of the photos visible in the articles linked in this report are graphic and disturbing.
New York State Police arrested a couple Sunday after finding several emaciated dogs covered in porcupine quills at their residence.
At least two yellow Labrador retrievers rescued from the Parish home were unable to eat because of the quills’ proximity to their mouths, the Staten Island Advance reported.
Christina M. LaValley, 41, and John Paul D. Barton, 42, each face four counts of animal cruelty because the injured dogs had quills lodged in their faces, noses, necks and bodies, WSYR-TV reported.
According to police, Barton was planning to shoot the dogs after stating he did not have enough money to take them to a veterinarian, the TV station reported.
The two emaciated labs were surrendered to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and taken to an emergency veterinary clinic in a nearby city, police confirmed to the Advance.
According to the newspaper, a veterinarian determined the dogs’ porcupine quill wounds were chronic. The dogs also showed signs of both hyponatremia, an abnormally low concentration of sodium in the blood, and hypochloremia, an abnormally low concentration of chloride in the blood.
Police said they began their investigation after someone who knows the couple called 911 after seeing a Facebook post about the dogs running away from the couple’s residence, the Advance reported.
